Managing Kaizen Events (2 Day Class)
Description:
Effective kaizen events are often a prerequisite for a successful lean transformation. They provide the necessary momentum, organizational learning and engagement, along with sustainable, step/function improvements. The systemic use of kaizen events establishes the technical and cultural foundation for principle-driven kaizen -- the powerful combination of kaizen events and daily kaizen activities.
Regrettably, many organizations suffer from one or more of the following event malpractice symptoms:
- Little or no measurable business impact
- Poor linkage to strategic and value-stream imperatives
- Unsustainable results
- Unfavorable employee experience
- Limited organizational learning and growth
- Insufficient foundation for daily kaizen
This two-day workshop is designed to give participants critical insight into the principles, tools, and techniques that drive effective kaizen events.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this workshop, you will understand:
- The foundation and framework of kaizen
- The lean leader’s role in kaizen
- How to ensure that kaizen events are “pulled” by what matters (value-stream improvement plans, strategy deployment, etc.)
- How to effectively pre-plan kaizen events
- The kaizen event sequence, the seven basic elements, and how to successfully apply them:
- Kick-off
- Pre-event training
- Kaizen “storyline”
- Team leader meeting process
- Kaizen work strategy
- Report-out
- Recognition and Celebration
- How to sustain kaizen gains through post-event follow-through and leader standard work
- How to develop and deploy the Lean Function – structure, role/responsibility, key result areas, core and technical competencies
- Understanding the transition from system-driven kaizen to principle-driven kaizen and how to get there
Course Outline:
The workshop is comprised of instruction, discussion, gemba walks, gemba tales (a.k.a. war stories), small-group exercises around pre-event planning, including event selection/scoping, team composition and initial strategy formulation, as well as the review of the host company's kaizen event management. The topics covered are:
- Why Drive-by Kaizen Events Are Not Effective…and How to Avoid Them
- Kaizen Event Execution and Sustainability - Beyond “Just Do It”
- The Lean Function and the Transition to Daily Kaizen
Who Should Attend:
Those who would benefit from this workshop include:
- Kaizen practitioners/facilitators in the kaizen promotion office (a.k.a the “lean function”)
- Lean leaders – value-stream managers, executives, lean steering committee members, etc.
To maximize your learning experience we recommend that prior to attending this program you take following workshop or have a good understanding of the concepts presented within it.
